Romance Report for July 5: Payback, Piggybacks and Patty-Cake

Is Pete Wentz exacting a little payback on Ashlee Simpson? Amid whispers that the starlet's recent camera-caught coziness with "Boardwalk Empire" actor Vincent Piazza was a ploy to "upset" her estranged hubby, he stepped out this weekend with former flame Michelle Trachtenberg, 25.

Paparazzi snapped the pair (seen at left in 2006) on an uneventful, PDA-free caffeine run on Sunday in Los Angeles. Neither has commented on whether the coffee stop was a friendly get-together or something more.

Either way, the outing probably won't sit well with Simpson, who tipsily taunted Trachtenberg during a 2009 run-in at a concert (Ashlee supposedly insinuated that Pete hooked up with her before he'd officially ended things with Michelle).

Simpson later apologized, and her rep called the incident "just a misunderstanding."